Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday felicitated the medal-winning Indian wrestlers with cash awards for their best-ever performance in the just-concluded World Championships at Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.
Deepak Punia was handed a cheque of Rs 7 lakhs for winning the silver medal in men's 86 kg, while the four bronze winners -- Bajrang Punia (men's 65 kg freestyle), Vinesh Phogat (women's 53 kg), Rahul Aware (men's 61 kg) and Ravi Dahiya (men's 57 kg) were given Rs 4 lakhs each.
Four of the five medal winners -- Deepak, Bajrang, Vinesh and Ravi -- also earned Olympic quotas in the process. Rahul won a bronze in men's 61kg, which is not an Olympic event.
There are 18 wrestling events at the Tokyo Olympics and Indian wrestlers will get two more qualifying opportunities, first at the Asian Wrestling Championships in March 2020, followed by the World Qualification tournament in April next year.
"I am very proud of this historic performance by the Indian wrestling team where they won five medals and four Olympic quotas," Rijiju told reporters after the felicitation.
"This function and the rewards are a way of congratulating them and appreciating them for the honour they have brought for the country. The government will help in any which way possible so that there is no shortfall in preparation for the Olympics," added Rijiju.
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